Sermon. April 4,2021 Easter Sunday 

Rev. John Steitz

1. Mary Magdalene announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.”  With this words she affirms proclaims that Christ is Risen!   
2. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pivotal event that confirms God’s love for the world. It is an affirmation that love is stronger than domination. 
3. Jesus had run ahead on into the might of Empire and had been broken on a cross.  On Good Friday it seems that the Empire and the way of power and control over others has won. 
4. On Easter morning Christ is Risen.  Love wins.  Love overcomes death.  Love liberates. 
5. The Resurrection transformed those who encountered the Risen Jesus and it transformed those who encountered the Witness of the Resurrection.  
6. Disciples who were fearful became bold Witnesses regardless of the cost.  The Empire tried again and again to suppress this faith.   
7. An early name for those in the Church was Believers.  People who believed in the Witness of the Resurrection, who believed in the Way of Jesus, and who were immune to the threats of the Empire.  
8. The Empire didn’t care what people believed as long as they acted in ways that supported the Empire. The early Believers however were organized into decentralized communities that lived I ways counter cultural to the ways of the Empire.  
9. Crucifixion was the Empire’s ultimate weapon.  Believers worshiped One who had been crucified, and who rose again.  The Resurrection blunted the Empire’s ultimate weapon because Believers held that regardless of what was thrown at them, God’s love would see them through even after death. 
10. God’s love is profoundly revolutionary.  God’s love undermines the domination of political, economic, and religious Empires that seek to hold power and control over God’s people. We see this in the Exodus story of liberation from Egypt.  We see this in the Resurrection story of liberation from death. 
11. The Resurrection is a profoundly revolutionary act. Mary Magdalene’s words to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” are words that set off God’s revolutionary love movement.  
12. God’s revolutionary love movement continues to this day in the hearts and minds of those who call themselves Believers. By Believers I do not just mean those who are members of the Church, or even those who profess Jesus is their Lord and Savior.
13. Believers are those so transformed by the Witness of the Resurrection that God’s revolutionary love shapes who we are, how we live our lives, and the acts of compassion and love we express toward others.  
14. Loving one another within the community of Believers. Loving our neighbors as ourselves. Loving even our enemies. And most of all, loving God with all of our being – heart, mind, soul, and strength. 
15. Believers are people who live according to the Great Commandment and the Love Commandment even when this is costly. Believers act with God’s revolutionary love in our hearts. 
16.  John’s Easter Gospel story begins with Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb while it was still dark.  The tomb has been opened and she goes to alert Peter and the beloved disciple. 
17. They race to the tomb.  The fact that the beloved disciple gets there first has no theological significance. It just means that the Beloved disciple runs faster than Peter. 
18. The beloved disciple alone believes.  He sees the empty tomb and grave clothing. He believes a new beginning is at hand although he doesn’t yet understand the meaning of all of this. 
19. We don’t need to fully understand God’s revolutionary love to begin to be transformed by this love. We face tragedies in our personal lives.  People we love deeply die. We face illness and heartbreak, and setbacks.  We don’t need to fully understand God’s love to be embraced by this love. 
20. We don’t need to fully understand God’s revolutionary love to be moved to transform the world.  We face injustices in the world.  People are oppressed and suffer harm. We might be connected to them, or we might not know them personally, but we are moved by their suffering.   
21. We don’t need to fully understand God’s love to act with compassion with those who suffer. We just know in our hearts that we are connected and that we are called to act. It is God’s revolutionary love that guides us even as we aren’t able to fully explain this love. 
22. In John’s Easter Gospel story the two male disciples return home but Mary Magdalene stays. Here she encounters with someone she first thinks is the gardener. 
23. When the Risen Christ calls her by name, “Mary,” she recognizes who he is. The Risen Christ recognizes who she is and by naming her opens her heart and mind to recognize who he is.  
24. The act of baptism continues this recognition through naming. We are baptized with our name in the name of God, Christ, and Holy Spirit.  
25. Sixty years ago James Baldwin wrote a book called, Nobody Knows My Name. The experience of Black people in the United States is one of not having one’s name known and called. 
26. This is why we hear cries of “Say Her Name!” and “Say His Name!” When a person’s name is known and called that person is embraced. 
27. When nobody knows or calls a person’s name they are outside the embrace of the community. We say the names of those wo have been killed and those who have died to acknowledge that they are still embraced and included into the community even in death.  
28. Being called by name liberates Mary Magdalene to go and proclaim the good news – “I have seen the Lord.”  It is the Risen Christ’s “Mary” that enables Mary’s “Christ is Risen” mission to the disciples. 
29. God’s revolutionary love calls each of us by our names. We become part of a Beloved Community that knows the importance of knowing and calling the names of those we encounter. 
30. Christ Is Risen! We are embraced by God’s revolutionary love. We are known and called by our names. Being known we are able to act with compassion and enact God’s revolutionary love in the world. Christ is Risen indeed.